PISCATAWAY – Just how rich with depth is the Rutgers football backfield as it enters the offseason?

Consider that Rutgers had one halfback top 200 yards and another reach 100 yards in its bowl game and neither was the team's leading rusher for the season or the former first-team all-conference performer.

"We have a lot of weapons, but at the same time we're competing and making each other better," Josh Hicks said after rushing for 202 yards and one touchdown to garner MVP honors during the 40-21 victory against North Carolina in the Quick Lane Bowl. "It's going to be a battle, and that's what I want."

Incumbent starter Paul James has proven two things in rushing for 1,244 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games over the last two seasons: He is dominant when he is healthy and he is injury-prone.

James missed the final nine games of 2014 with a torn ACL – opening the door to Justin Goodwin and Desmon Peoples and later to Hicks and Robert Martin – and is expected to be out through spring camp.

"I like the depth we have in that room," coach Kyle Flood said. "As it turned out this year, we needed every bit of it. By the end of the season, we really needed all those guys – even through the last game. You see Robert Martin pulls his hamstring in the bowl game. We needed every one of those guys this year so I'm excited that we are going to bring them all back next year."

Rutgers totaled 2,114 rushing yards – its highest total since 2007 – without even one 500-yard rusher.

"It can only go forward, I think, because we've got a couple of good running backs," Martin said of the potential for the rushing attack. "We all want the ball. We're going to be pushing each other at camp, winter workouts, spring ball, because each one of us wants to be the man. But obviously, we're all cool with our roles. As long as we all get an opportunity to get the ball, I think we'll be fine."

Whether all five backs remain part of the equation or not is to be determined as Flood did not rule out more transfers from the roster – senior halfback Savon Huggins and senior quarterback Mike Bimonte are taking the graduate transfer route – and said position changes will be discussed in coming weeks.

"We all talk and have a collective thing when we are out on the field during a game," James said in November.

One logical solution to a potential logjam could be for Goodwin to again try cornerback, where he played in the season-opener before he returned to his preferred position. Goodwin initially looked most likely to take over for the injured James, but he struggled and got just five carries in the final four games.

Around the same time, Peoples, who finished a team-high 447 rushing yards, suffered a season-ending upper body injury. He fumbled on his final carry of the season just as Hicks and Martin began to emerge.

"I think we're just two hungry backs," Martin said after rushing for 100 yards and two scores against UNC. "If he's in the game and he's doing well, I'm going to want to come in the game and do well. Just that competitive nature between us, we're hard workers and we want to help our team no matter what."

Hicks and Martin became first pair of running backs to rush for 100 yards in the same game for Rutgers since two of the best in school history – Ray Rice and Brian Leonard – did it against Syracuse in 2006.

"I knew Ray Rice had the records here and I want the opportunity to break his records," Hicks said. "So me and my best friend Rob have joined him in the record books."

For now, Hicks has the bragging rights in the tangible shape of a MVP trophy, but as the season showed things can change rather quickly in this backfield.

"It was my childhood dream," Hicks said. "I always watch football and see other guys hold up trophies. It's every man's dream to hold up the MVP trophy so I'm just happy it's me."